Tommy Dreamer On Why He Left TNA; Criticizes Management

Tommy Dreamer appeared on Busted Open, which airs every Monday and Wednesday on Sirius 92 and XM 207 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

Dreamer vs. Raven: "Yeah, oh man that was to me, one of the greater stories, feuds in wrestling history .. I put that up there with Dusty Rhodes, and Kevin Sullivan, Carlos Colon, Abdul the Butcher, Bret & Shawn. Just for the sake of how much stuff we really did, and you think longevity-wise you know. We lasted 3 years with that storyline of me never beating him, and the best part of that storyline with me was all the characters that spawned from it with you know Stevie Richards, Beulah, Francine, The Pit Bulls, Brian Lee, so many, The BWO. So many people were actually able to actually get a career because of that as well."

The End of ECW: "Well, it was an amazing, amazing team effort, and there’s a lot of guys who helped contribute to it, I just… I guess my legacy is also just because of so much, behind the scenes that I contributed to the company, and I was also pretty much the last man to stay in the company. I actually stayed longer than Paul Heyman, which was sad cuz’ he was the real owner. And , you know, I went down with the ship, but now it’s all good cuz’ it’s made me the man who I am. At times I was also thinking of changing my name to , ECW or like Edward Charles Wright cuz’ every time I wrestle, they seem to chant that."

Not wanting to hold titles: "Actually , one of the many fights me and Paul Heyman got into , to me, titles; I never wanted to hold one. You know, titles were given, to me, they’re given to guys to help them get to the next level, and in the original ECW, I really didn’t need it, but the story worked out better cuz’ a lot of times where do you go from there once you win the title. Then, you know, the whole storyline, and again, it was all Paul basically saying, “Don’t put the title around your waist. I don’t want anyone ever to say there was a picture of you with the title around your waist, and like that would be the next chapter for Tommy Dreamer. He finally won the title. Not only did he lose the girl, but he also never got a picture of him with the title around his waist, you know just to add to the saga of professional wrestling, and the original ECW."

Parting ways with TNA Wrestling: "There was a lot of things. It was.. contracts and it just whatever. I didn’t put up with a lot of stuff in WWE, I’m not gonna’ put up with stuff in TNA. And you know what? I miss everybody in WWE, and I miss everybody in TNA, but,..I’m happy in my life and at 40 years old, if I can’t, I don’t want to say do it my way, but again, not seeing things done logically, and looking at stuff from a business point of view. Then I just say it doesn’t make sense to me, and it’s like no matter how hard I work, no matter how much I destroy my body, no matter how much other guys destroy their body, if stuff’s not going to change, to me that really, really bothers me, and I don’t know. I guess I don’t want to be a part of it.

"I don’t want negativity in my life just because I’m in a way different stage in my life. I love wrestling. I‘ve loved it since I was a little kid, and I don’t want to be the bitter old veteran who hates wrestling, and for a while like when stuff doesn’t make sense or they just do stuff to do it, and just do it, I get so mad. I just..I’d rather just walk away and watch it from afar, and be like an armed chair quarterback on Monday’s or Tuesday’s, ya’ know?"